East+is+East

East is East  The film is about a family in Britain. The father, who is a Pakistani, expects his family to follow the Pakistanis rules. The mother, who is English, has seven children with him. The children who was born and brought up in Britain, see themselves as British and starts to reject on their fathers Pakistani rules.  The films starts with an arrange marriage to his oldest son, Nazir. But he rejects to get marry and runs away. George then bans him from the family, telling people that he’s dead. After this, marriage is still on Georges mind. He promises Mr. Shah, that his second and third sons, Tariq and Abdul, will marry his two daughters. The youngest son, Saijd, overhears this and tells his brothers. Tariq gets angry and destroys clothes and watches his father traditionally bought for the weddings. George finds this out and starts to beat the wrong son, for not telling him which of the sons that destroyed it. When Ella see’s this she calls George a pig, which is a terrible insult to a Muslim. George beats her up, in front of his children.

George starts to lose control and respect of his family and becomes a broken man. Ella still sees George as her husband, someone she will remain faithful and loyal to till the end. George realizes that he is doing things in a wrong way. The film ends with George and Ella having a cup of tea together, which is a very British form of reconciliation.

http://www.haro-online.com/stuff/eastise1.jpg

The film gives us an insight into the integration of ethnic minority communities, into working class Britain in the 1970s. We learn about a different religion and culture. We also get to see the Multicultural Britain.

The story takes place in the early seventies in Salford, Greater Manchester. The Kahn family is not a rich family, so they don't live in a big house. Their house is a typically british house build of stones. Inside the house there are furnitures from the 70's.
 * Setting:**

In the film we see that the father wants two of his sons to marry two pakistani girls in a prearranged marriage. The message of the film is probably that people should be able to choose who and when to marry. We also see a collision between the two different cultures we find in the film. The father follows his religion and raise his children to believe in the same religion and to follow the same rules. The mother on the other side is from a british family. Their children seems devided between the different religions and rules. The children thinks that his father's rules is too old, and wants to decide what to do theirselves. They get angry when they find out that their father wants to marry them to the pakistani girls, because they see themselves as british, not pakistani. 
 * Theme/message:**



- George Khan: George is the Pakistani father, who follows his religion and rules. He is a deep believer of the Islamic way of raising children and arranging marriage. When he is angry he gets violent and he doesn’t see that he is hurting his family. At the end of the film he changes a little bit. He realizes that he is doing things wrong and that his family hates him for that. - Ella Khan: Ella is the British mother. She works along with her husband at a fish shop. Ella has a close relation to all her children and she protects them from Georges beating. She tries to accept and live the Pakistani lifestyle and religion, but wants to keep the British lifestyle to. - Meenah Khan: She is the only girl of the Khan children. She doesn’t feel like a Pakistani, and wants to be like the other English girls. Sometimes she behaves like a normal girl, who is standing under the pressure of George. And other times she is active and a cheeky girl. She has a good and a warm relationship with her brothers. - Sajid: Sajid is the youngest piece of the Khan family puzzle. Most of the time, especially if there is some trouble between the family members, Sajid hides his face behind his green coat. But he is totally a different person if he is not in the near of his father. Everytime Sajid is in the company of his brothers he turns to a more active protagonist. - Tariq: He doesn't like to be bossed around and always does what he wants to. While his little brothers do what their strict father orders, he is the only one who dare to rebel against his father. He is in a relationship with Stella, a neigbourhood girl, although he seems to take that relationship not too serious. Tariq often uses to play jokes on his younger brothers, especially on the youngest one, Sajid. In the end of the film Tariq also shows his braveness by leaving his home without allowance. - Saleem: He is a little bit different from the others in his family. He is like a covered rebel and stands between the strict and authoritarian character of his father and the freedom searching family. He doesn't show his attitudes and opinions to much and has a more relaxed attitude about his dad. -Stella: Stella is Tariq's girlfriend. She and her brother lives with their grandfather in the neigbourhood of the Kahn family. Almost everytime we see her she's with her friend. Is seems that Stella is the only one who has deep feelings in her's and Tariq's relationship.  The relationship between George and Ella is not based on equality. Ella doesn’t agree on the decisions George makes and in some of the decision she isn’t included. She gets angry when George only tells her the facts, like the weddings and the circumcision for Sajid. Ella's husband tries to calm her down with gifts, but she realizes his thoughts to bring up the children in a strict Islamic lifestyle is behind his behaviour. But Ella still sees George as her husband, someone she will remain faithful and loyal to till the end.
 * Character description:**
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